Object-oriented applications organize data and routines together into encapsulated units generally referred to as objects. Object-oriented applications lead to modular software systems that have increased flexibility and are easy to alter and maintain.
An object model is a formal description of an object-oriented application. Semantic elements of an object model describe object classes, attributes of object classes, relationships between object classes and inheritance between object classes. One example object-oriented application is block diagram modeling. Dynamic real-world systems such as electrical circuits, shock absorbers, braking systems, and many other electrical, mechanical and thermodynamic systems may be modeled, simulated and analyzed on a computer system using block diagram modeling. Block diagram modeling graphically depicts time-dependent mathematical relationships among a system's inputs, states and outputs, typically for display on a graphical user interface (GUI). Block diagram modeling may also be used to simulate the behavior of a system for a specified time span. Block diagram modeling can also be used to design the algorithms to control the real-world systems being modeled.